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Rating: 
Summary: A largely disappointing book.
Review: A mostly disappointing jumble of information compiled haphazardly into a book. The editors would have done well to have insisted on further fact checking of dates (e.g. the author has Henry II ruling from 1547-1599 while Henry IV rules from 1589-1610), organization (most of the book is written as if compiled from scraps of notes) and clarification rather than the jumble of facts, historical footnotes and irrelevant anecdotes (i.e., "His mistress, Madame de Pompadour, ... was also a very loving person") that make up this book.If you enjoy reading disjointed prose, this book should satisfy as it is written almost entirely in a stream-of-consciousness style which juxtaposes facts such as, "The American Empire period was from 1820 to 1840" with historical footnotes such as "General Charles de Gaulle preferred Empire furniture". The opening and closing sections of the book, the chronology and the vocabulary, are good ideas but ultimately disappoint. In the first, the author attempts a chronology of French rulers and furniture periods but this section is largely unsatisfactory and could have much benefitted from charts, photographs or even bullet-headings to help identify particular trends. The vocabularly, which takes up 65 of the 136 pages, is somewhat useful although I can't fathom why the word "silk" needs to be defined here, and there are several plain mistakes such as a "guéridon" being described as a candle stand rather than as a pedestal table, and "pied de biche" is described as a scroll foot rather than as the doe hoof which is the translation and the description of the element. I had great hopes for this book but it has mostly informed me that a decent book on this subject is still waiting to be written!
Rating:
Summary: Not recommended if you need factual information
Review: I found the information provided in this book to be inaccurate at times, putting the accuracy of ALL the information to question. In addition, it seemed to be a compilation of information/statements not arranged in any logical or meaningful fashion. I was very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: How did this book get published?
Review: This book was terrible. The author's thoughts are arranged in such a disjointed fashion without any semblance of organization. It's extremely difficult to read and almost impossible. I was so desperate for another source on french furniture that I bought it after reading a similar review prior to my purchase. I am also not the type to get online to write to write a book review but I was so disappointed with this book, I was compelled to do so. I guess this just demonstrates that anything can get published. I'm just surprised this got past the editor and publisher as well.
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